


Moving on is Hard

by UntamedCarebear



Series: Let Me Help [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-09
Updated: 2012-11-09
Packaged: 2017-11-18 06:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/557908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UntamedCarebear/pseuds/UntamedCarebear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin and Lancelot are now together and trying to help each other move on.  But while Lancelot seems to be moving from Gwen with no problems, Merlin on the other hand is having more trouble moving on from Arthur.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving on is Hard

For the first time in who knows when, Arthur had given Merlin the day off. He didn't have to wake up early and get Arthur his breakfast or dress him or anything else. And as far as he knew, he didn't have to run any errands for Gaius either. For the first time in forever, he was sleeping in.

Or at least, trying to sleep in. Someone had a different idea.

The hand he had felt a few minutes ago was back on his shoulder and he heard a voice but he couldn't tell who it was through his sleepy haze. "Go 'way" He mumbled pulling the blanket over his face. Who ever was trying to wake him wasn't giving up though, he felt them shake his shoulder again.

"Stoooop" Merlin tried to smack the hand away but his hand just hung a foot off the bed, waved awkwardly then flopped back to the bed. If he wasn't so tired he'd use magic to get rid of the person. Though if he did do that, he'd have to use a memory spell on them too and he still wasn't very good at those.

Suddenly the hand had moved to his head and started lightly scratching. Oh that felt nice. Who ever the person was could stay as long they kept doing that. "Mmmmmm" he felt himself relaxing even more and just as he was about to fall asleep the hand left his head. "Hey! Don't stop doing that!" Merlin tried to reach out and grab the hand but his arm just fell back to the bed.

The person chuckled but didn't continue the excellent head scratching. "Merlin, wake up" Through the sleepy haze Merlin started to recognize the voice. Reluctantly he opened his eyes. Blinked a few times he looked up and saw Lancelot. He stared at the older man for a moment before shutting his eyes and turning over. "Either keep doing that head thing or leave" 

He heard Lancelot chuckle again then felt the bed dip as Lancelot sat down. Shortly after he was scratching Merlin's head. "Mmmm" Merlin turned over again and snuggled into the man's side. "Merlin, you have to get up" 

"No I don't, Arthur gave me the day off so I don't have anywhere to be but here, in bed" He shifted to get in to a comfier position before adding. "Unless someone is dead or dying, I'm not leaving the bed" And he personally hoped Lancelot stayed there and continued the head thing while he slept.

"I hate to ruin your day off but Gaius sent me to wake you up" Lancelot really hated having to wake Merlin up, he knew how rare it was for Arthur to give his manservant the day off. Merlin groaned and opened his eyes again. "What does he need me for?" So much for sleeping in. At least he got to sleep longer than usual though.

"He said something about having you collect some special herbs from the forest" Merlin let out another groan and sat up. "I know what's he was talking about, he's been talking about them all week, I should have realized he'd send me to get them" Lancelot scratched Merlin's head one last before letting his hand drop. "I'd help you find them but today we have some men here that want to become knights" 

All knights had the be present for that and Merlin knew it. Usually he'd be there to watch as well but he had a mission from Gaius. "They shouldn't be too hard to find on my own, hopefully I can find them fast enough and crawl back into bed" He doubted it but it couldn't hurt to dream. 

Lancelot chuckled and said. "You're welcome to hide in my bed afterward" Merlin's face started heating up while Lancelot realized what he said sounded like. "I meant you could hide them while I'm not in the room, unless you'd like for me to be there of course" Lancelot felt his face starting to heat as well as Merlin laughed. "I understand what you mean" He pressed a quick kiss to Lancelot's mouth before saying. "You'd better get moving, don't want to be late to watch potential knights try to beat Arthur"   
\----  
Two hours and thirty minutes later, Merlin emerged from the forest. He had some leaves and twigs sticking out of his hair but he finally those special herbs Gaius wanted. Hopefully he could get them to Gaius then escape before the older man could give him more errands. 

He decided to walk past the training grounds to see how things were going. When he got there he was surprised to Gwen there. When he got closer he noticed she was talking to Arthur. Arthur and Gwen suddenly started kissing and Merlin felt his heart clench.

It had been a month since him and Lancelot became romantically involved with each other but it still hurt to see Arthur and Gwen together. He stood there and stared. He was happy with Lancelot but part of him still wished it was him Arthur was kissing instead of Gwen.

Someone calling his name brought Merlin from his thoughts. He turned and suddenly Lancelot was standing next time looking a little worried. "I've called your name five times and you didn't answer me, are you okay?" Merlin looked and avoided Lancelot's gaze. He felt shame for being with Lancelot but still having feelings for Arthur. "I'm fine, just tired" He gave the older man a shaky smile.

Lancelot visibly relaxed a bit and smiled before running his hand through Merlin's hair to get the twigs and leaves out. "I thought you said those herbs wouldn't be hard to fine?" Merlin glared at the basket that held the herbs before speaking. "They were easy to find but they were hard to get, I ended up falling in a hole" It had taken him half an hour to get out.

"Any new knights?" He asked looking back over the field making sure to not look at Arthur and Gwen. "We have one, the other four didn't last in a fight with Arthur" Lancelot grinned. "One of the potentials tried to attack Arthur when his back was turned, didn't end very well for the guy" It was a bit rude but even he laughed when Arthur took down the potential for a second time.

Merlin nodded but didn't say anything. His gaze had found Arthur and Gwen again, at least this time they weren't kissing, but they were leaning close to each other talking about something. "I need to get these to Gaius" He tore his gaze away and all but ran into the castle leaving Lancelot standing there confused.  
\----  
Lancelot was worried. Merlin has been avoiding him ever since he got the herbs Gaius wanted from the forest a few weeks ago. He wasn't why Merlin was doing this, everything had seemed fine until that day.

He had tried talking to the younger man but he'd always run off or make an excuse and quickly disappear. Lancelot wanted to know what was going on, as far as he knew he hadn't done anything wrong but something had happened to make Merlin act like this and he was going to find out one way or another.

And today he was going to find out. Arthur had left to a nearby village with Gaius because people were getting sick. Normally Merlin would've gone along but Gaius has more knowledge of the sickness and told Merlin to stay behind in case someone at the castle needed help. So now was a good time to get Merlin to talk.

Lancelot stood in the doorway to his room and waited. He knew Merlin usually walked around the castle when Arthur was away and he wasn't with, so he just had to wait until Merlin walked pass.

It wasn't long before he spotted the warlock walking down the hall. It didn't look like he was paying much attention to anything around him so Lancelot waited until the man was walking past before he grabbed his arm and pulled him inside his room and shut the door. He didn't like having to do this but he couldn't think of another way to get Merlin to talk to him.

Merlin looked scared for a moment before he seemed to realize who had grabbed. The younger man relaxed but only slightly. "Merlin, we need to talk and don't you dare try using magic to get out of this, we need to talk" He could tell Merlin was trying to think of a way to get out but Lancelot wasn't going to let him.

"Please tell me why you've been avoiding me, have I done something wrong? Did I offend you in someway?" Merlin shook his head but didn't say anything. He stared at the floor and refused to look at the knight. "Merlin, please, talk to me"

It was silent for a minute, neither of them saying anything. But finally, Merlin started talking. "You haven't done anything, it's me, I like you a lot but I feel horrible to still have feelings for Arthur when I'm involved with you" He rubbed his eyes with his palms before continuing. "I'm trying to move on, I have been for over a year but it's hard, you seem like you've moved on from Gwen but I'm still stuck on Arthur and I feel like I'm hurting you"

Lancelot moved forward and wrapped Merlin in his arms. He wasn't surprised Merlin still had feelings for Arthur, he knew it would take time to move on but he was surprised that Merlin thought he was hurting him. "I know you still have feelings for him, you've been in love with him for years, it takes time to move on, I knew this" He moved his hand to the warlock's chin and tilted his head up to look at the knight.

"I'm not completely over Gwen, my feelings aren't as strong as they were before but I do still have some lingering feelings and I told you when we were locked in that closet, we would help each other move on, I know it'll take longer for you to no longer have feelings for Arthur but I'm here to help" Merlin still looked upset but he hugged Lancelot and buried his face in his shoulder.

Merlin mumbled something that sounded like 'sorry' but Lancelot didn't say anything in return. Instead of speaking he grabbed Merlin's chin again and made him look before he kissed the warlock. 

Merlin hummed and started kissing back as Lancelot moved his hands down to Merlin's waist. He tilted the younger man back slightly and deepened the kiss. Merlin opened his mouth as Lancelot licked his way into the warlock's mouth.

After a few minutes Lancelot picked Merlin up and placed him on the bed. He started kissing down the younger man's neck causing him to blush. "Lancelot" The knight moved away so he was hovering over Merlin. "Is this okay?" He didn't want to push Merlin into anything. "If you want to stop tell me and I'll stop" Merlin smiled and wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and pulled him down into a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be another part after this. Hopefully I'll have it up within the next few weeks.


End file.
